


The Harp

by em0rion



Category: Original Work
Genre: Loki - Freeform, M/M, References to Norse Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 07:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/em0rion/pseuds/em0rion
Summary: A short story i wrote for english class last year that i cleaned up and decided to post. high key based in Norse times and inspired by the magnus chase series lmao.





	The Harp

The forest trees rustle slightly in the wind. In the distance, music plays. It’s a simple tune, as if someone is absentmindedly strumming. A young elf sits near the water’s edge, dressed in clothes that mirror the environment around him. A green, grassy pair of shorts and sandals are worn. His hair is short, curved and brown, with long pointy ears peeking out as if saying hello. He hums along to the picking of the harp, before a small voice calls out for him.

“Eitri!”

The small elf scrambles to pick himself up from the ground. He taps the harp and it shrinks down to the size of a child’s toy. He puts it into his small knapsack, being careful with his wings and slinging it over his shoulder as he jogs to the voice.

“Alfreda, what’s wrong?”

A little girl around the age of 11,  _ Alfreda _ , as we now know, stands near the entrance to a small wood house, pointing at the left side of the patio.

“It’s Geri!” 

The small girls red hair falls over her face, and Eitri moves to look over where their beloved dog should be. Instead, he sees the severed tail of Geri, and a happy and unaffected dog. 

“Geri! Here, boy!” Eitri calls. Geri trots over to Eitri, and the Norwegian Elkhound licks Eitri’s hand, wiggling his now small stub of a tail. Eitri pets the dog, and turns to Alfreda. “What happened?”

Alfreda looks relieved to see that her precious friend is okay, and comes over to pet him before answering Eitri. “I don’t know! I came out to feed him and his tail was just gone!” 

Eitri sits down and pulls a piece of rugged paper and a piece of bark which he clicks. The bark becomes a usable pencil and he starts writing. After a bit he stops, rolling up the paper and whistling. A small raven comes, landing on Eitri’s shoulder. “Hermod, take this to Alvin. It’s urgent.” The raven caws and takes the paper, flying away quickly. 

Eitri kneels to Alfreda’s height, “Okay, my friends Alvin and Warren are going to come over. Warren is going to watch you while I and Alvin go find who did this to Geri, okay?” 

Alfreda nods, and hugs Eitri, “stay safe,  bróðir.” 

Eitri stands up, turning to see his friends walking up, with Hermod on Alvin’s shoulder. Alvin is a burly elf, hardly lacking in muscle. Warren is a wood nymph who walks with the grace of a baby doe, his bulging eyes and long, gangly limbs often pin him as one. 

“We came as fast as we could. Are you ready?” Alvin asks. Eitri nods, and turns to Alfreda one last time. 

“I’ll be gone for no more than a couple days, you be good for Warren. And send Hermod if you need anything.” Alfreda nods, and goes inside with Warren. Eitri shoulders his backpack and starts off to the nearby village, Alvin giving a goodbye kiss to Warren, following Eitri with Geri. 

Eitri and Alvin walk for two hours before coming to the village of Dain. Dain is buried deep underneath the ground in a large cave, and its population consists mostly of dwarves. The houses are small, only about 5 or 6 feet high, with small shops in front of the doors. Eitri walks over to a friendly looking dwarf (as friendly as dwarfs can look, anyways) and greets it, “heill ok sæll. I am looking for… someone?”

The dwarf lets out a high pitched squeal that might resemble a laugh, “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

Eitri sighs, “perhaps someone with strange powers?”

The dwarf scratches it’s long beard for a moment before responding. “You might want to check with Brynjar. He hasn’t been seen in a couple of weeks and bad things happen when he doesn’t leave his home,” The dwarf points at the house across from him before gesturing to a longsword that lays across his table. “Say, would you like a warrior’s sword while you’re here?” 

“No thank you, come on Alvin.” Alvin reluctantly follows after a moment, and Eitri realises that his friend might want to shop before deciding that he should hurry so he could return home to Alfreda. Eitri knocks on the door to Brynjar’s house. 

After a moment, a middle aged man peeks his head out and asks in a timid voice, “who sent you?”

Eitri shrugs before responding. “My dog’s inanimate, detached tail?”

Brynjar’s eyes widen, and he closes the door quickly. Eitri is contemplating knocking again when Brynjar opens it and pulls him in. Alvin lets out a “hey!” in protest but is silenced by Brynjar.

“Stay out here. My business is with your friend.” Brynjar closes the door and sits Eitri down on his rusty old couch. Everything in Brynjar’s house is rusty and old, it seems. It’s a small house, with no windows and only one room. Eitri can get a good look at Brynjar now, and he notices that the human looks malnourished, as if he hadn’t had much to eat for a very long while. Brynjar finally speaks to Eitri after a moment. “The harp, do you have it?”

“I-  _ what? _ ”

“The harp, Eitri, I know you have it. I need it.”

“How... do you know my name?”

Brynjar smiles a ghoulish smile, and his eyes dart up and down Eitri’s body while he talks, “I know a lot about you, Eitri. He says a lot about you.”

Eitri shifts uncomfortably, “who does?”

“The voice in my head. He told me that a young fairy would come here, looking for answers and carrying a magical harp. He said you were the  Vǫlsungr”

“Well buddy, you’ve got the wrong fairy then. My harp isn’t magical.”

Brynjar moves closer, gripping Eitri by the shoulders, “Stop  _ lying _ . I know you have that harp. And you’re going to give it to me!”

Eitri breaks free of Brynjar’s hold, fluttering away. “Or what?”

“I’ll have to pry it from your cold, dead, body.” Brynjar lunges toward Eitri, and Eitri flys to the other side of the room. The fairy opens his knapsack on instinct, bringing out his harp. It enlarges to the size of a guitar, and he strums it. Brynjar puts his hands over his ears, screaming in pain. Eitri makes a break for the door, throwing it open and scaring his companions. He shrinks the harp back to pocket size and puts it in his bag. He starts running back into the woods, Alvin and Geri following along, Alvin yelling questions.

“What WAS that?!”

Eitri didn’t know what Alvin saw, but he wouldn’t answer even if he knew. He focuses on running to find a secluded part of the forest where they could stop. Eitri finds himself subconsciously running toward the stream where he sat that morning. He stops at the edge, placing his hands on his knees and gasping for breath. Alvin does the same (though a bit more over the top) and Geri sits down at the edge of the stream.

Eitri turns to Alvin after a moment and inquires, “what did you see back there?”

Alvin shakes his head, “I don’t know, but it looked a bit too much like a Jörmungandr for my liking.”

Eitri laughs a bit, “A Jörmungandr? On land? Don’t be silly, Al. A sea serpent like that couldn’t-” 

“Are you sure about that?” A deep voice asks, and both Eitri and Alvin turn to the source of the voice, and find only Geri, laying down on the grass. 

“Uh… hello?” Eitri calls out.

Unexpectedly, Geri speaks (and not in the dog way), “Well, looks like the brains in the family went to the girl. Though, she lost her use after a while, too.” Geri morphs into a tall man with long, dark hair, adorned in a black cloak. The man chuckles and, with a smirk, introduces himself. “Oh! How impolite of me. I know  _ your _ names but you don’t know mine. The name is Loki. God of mischief and fire. But mostly mischief.”

Alvin’s eyes widen, and he takes a step back from the god, “N-no way! That isn’t possible!”

Loki chuckles and points at Alvin, and the elf freezes, seemingly unable to move. “I don’t quite like that one. While you were meeting with my friend Brynjar, he would  _ not _ stop talking to me about how worried he was. What he would say to your dear little Alfreda if something happened to you.  _ Gods _ , I hate being a dog. Maybe next time I’ll try being a cat. People don’t bother cats.” While Loki was talking, Eitri had gotten out his harp and enlarged it to guitar sized again.

“Oh you sly dog, you caught me monologuing. You wouldn’t use that on me, anyway. You don’t even know how it works!”

“I sure don’t, but I know it hurts!” Eitri exclaims, strumming his harp. It lets out a squeal that sounded like sweet music to Eitri, but pure torture to Loki. Loki covers his ears, crying out. While he’s occupied, Eitri runs up and kicks Loki where the sun don't shine, making him collapse into the river. Loki screams once again, before it seems he melts into the river. 

“This isn’t the last you’ll see of me! Never let your guard down, Eitri Onfroy!” Loki screams one more time before the only thing that’s left of him is his cloak. Alvin gasps and falls down on the grass. 

“I… What happened?”

Eitri sits down, “I think I just killed a god.”

Alvin contemplates that for a bit before piping up, “oh… cool!”

Eitri laughs, “yeah, I guess so!”

Alvin gets up, and Eitri follows him back to the house before stopping dead in his tracks, 

“Oh Søren, what am I gonna tell Alfreda? She loved Geri.”

Alvin shrugs, “kids forget things fast. Just get her a new dog.”

“That’s a good idea, but I’ll still have to explain it to her.”

“ _ Please  _ tell me when you do that. I want to hear how you phrase ‘the family dog was actually a god who tried to kill me.’” 

Eitri shoves Alvin playfully, and they both laugh before entering the house. Alfreda jumps off their couch and runs to hug Eitri. “You’re back early! Where’s Geri?” 

Eitri hugs her back and turns to Alvin for help. “Uh.. It’s a long story. How about for now we grab some food?” Alfreda nods, and heads to the kitchen.

Eitri smiles and thinks to himself.

_ What a weird day. I want some food. _

**Author's Note:**

> i love these characters sm but i never know what to do with them lmao  
> follow me on twitter or ig they're both the same as on here


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